learn_about_dogs_the_ultimate_research_guidefandomcom-20200214-history
Using a database to learn about dogs (canines)
Purpose of this Page. On this page I will be explaining how to use the advanced search options of an article database to find information on dogs and other subjects. I will be using the Inspire database to do this. Note, this is an Indiana resource, availability may vary. Feel free to check out my other pages containing an article on dogs, research guides, and suggested resources. Basics, Getting on Inspire and Choosing Databases If you know how to get to Inspire you can go there now or you could use this link to go there. Under the main search boxes there is a list of 13 databases not including select all. Choose carefully based on the subject you are looking up. Since this is a dog based site, I will be choosing based on dogs. The ones I will use are: * Academic * encyclopedias * World Cat * Other Databases Deciding What to Say and Where ''' '''Layout There are four main Search boxes each with a drop down containing search type options. In addition the last three have Boolean operator drop downs. We will be focusing on the type drop downs here. They are: * Title * Author * Full Text * Keyword * Subject * Abstract * ISBN * ISSN * Any Title search This is for searching within the resources titles. Terms put into this kind of search appear within the titles of the results. Using title search I will search the words "dog training". I got over 90,000 hits. Author This searches for the works of a particular author. In this example, I will use Diana Palmer, Author of The Puppy Owner's Manual. Note, when searching people, format the search to be last name comma first name. EX. Palmer, Diana. I got over 4000 results (not all by Diana Palmer, but rather authors containing either name). Full Text This kind of search only brings up hits where you can see the whole text on the site. Searching "dog training" again I got over 90,000 hits, though less than under the title search. Keyword This searches all parts of all resources. Putting in "dog training" yields over 100,000 results. Subject This searches for resources that are about, or discuss a particular subject rather than looking for occurrences of the term in the resource. Searching "dog training" in this gave me 194 hits. Abstract This kind of search looks for resources where only the abstract, not the whole text, is available. Putting in "dog training" gave me 95 results. ISBN This kind of search helps you look for a particular book by searching its ISBN number. You use this when you know what book you want, but can't find it. I will use the ISBN of Dog Facts by Joan Palmer. This time I will select all as my database selection to increase my chances of finding this title. My search yielded 2 results, each different editions of the book. ISSN This is similar to the ISBN search, but searches for particular periodicals rather than books. Once again using select all, I will search the ISSN of Dog Fancy. I got 4 results. Any This simply means it uses every type of search searched. Summary Using these tools properly can give you an advantage when learning about dogs, or any other subject. Keep in mind, they only work as well as you use them. Category:Databases Category:Seraching Category:Dogs